In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re highlighting five ground-breaking, pioneering women designers whose influences are still felt today. Although many female designers did not receive the claim they deserved during their lifetime, they pushed boundaries, experimented, and made incredible contributions to genres and movements within architecture, interior design, furniture design, and landscape design. Their innovative perspectives and willingness to play with color, form, materials, and societal expectations inspire us to live and design boldly.
Zaha Hadid
The term “visionary” gets tossed around these days, but Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid truly embodied what it means to redefine a genre. By bending the rules of construction to create free form organic structures made of materials such as concrete and glass, Hadid pushed rigid architectural conventions to their limit. In the process, the “Queen of the Curve” created breathtaking bridges, apartment buildings, museums, arts centers, and more around the globe.
Alena Graff Photography
Alena Graff Photography
Eames Office
Ray Eames
Her husband Charles Eames may be the more recognizable name, but Ray-Bernice “Ray” Eames’s contributions to art and design in the 20th century were considerable and are still being revealed. Eames experimented with multiple media including painting, graphic design, architecture, and textile design in addition to the iconic furniture design for which the Eames Office is famous.
Eames Office
Lumens
Dorothy Draper
“Modern Baroque” maven Dorothy Parker was known for her ability to combine unexpected colors and patterns to create interiors that were lively, vibrant, and decidedly anti-minimalist. After creating what is considered to be the first official interior design business in the 1920s, Draper went on to transform hotels, restaurants, and homes. Draper also wrote a beloved design column and was a true influencer: over a million yards of her cabbage rose chintz fabric was sold in the 1930s and 40s!
dorothydraper.com
dorothydraper.com
Women’s Industrial Design
Eileen Gray
Irish-born and educated in London and Paris, Eileen Gray was a trendsetter in furniture design and architecture throughout Europe. Gray pushed boundaries in both her lacquer work and her experimentation with furniture materials and shapes. Without any formal training, Gray went on to create multiple modern houses including E-1027 in France.
Gray’s designs often created a stir during her lifetime, and, like many women designers, have only recently been appreciated more fully. Fun fact: her Dragon armchair sold at auction for $28.3 million, making it the most expensive piece of 20th-century design ever sold!
Women’s Industrial Design
Mary Gaudin Photography
Bunny Mellon
Although Bunny Mellon wasn’t a self-proclaimed designer, her style influence, her keen eye for art, and her skill in planning landscapes resonate even today. Known for the classic and traditional elegance of her gardens and her iconic art collection, Mellon redesigned the White House Rose Garden during the Kennedy administration and planned landscapes for Jackie Kennedy, the headquarters of the American Horticultural Society, the founder of Givenchy, and her own multiple homes with her husband, a wealthy businessman and horse breeder.
Artful Living
Adventures in Styleland
Wine and Country Life